A 22-year-old woman who was flying from Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida told NBC News that her plane was on the runway waiting to take off when the pilot informed the passengers that the aircraft had been grounded and they were returning to the gate.

"The pilot already had explained that we were on one of the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes but that he was confident in his ability to fly it," she said. "Not even 10 minutes later, he announced that we had to go back because of the emergency order."

She said that the earliest flight she could find was on Saturday leaving her stuck in D.C. and causing her to miss work.

Some flights were in the air when the order was issued, but the airlines did not tell the passengers until they had reached their destination.